Love. It's the Big Idea.

SO, I was planning to do a follow-up post on the tablescape design that our team (me plus MaeMae Paperie, My Sweet and Saucy and The Milli Fiore) put together for the Utterly Engaged tablescape challenege. However, the wise and talented Megan already put together the raddest.post.ever. Complete with custom images and such... I can't compete. So, I am just going to borrow some of Megan's images and send you over to her blog for the full picture!

But before I do that, here is the inspiration board that I created for our tablescape design. Originally I wanted to figure out a way to hang a whole bunch of exposed light bulbs from the ceiling and maybe even place paper hearts in them if we could do it without looking stinky-cheesy. But we had such little space to work with that this was quickly nixed.  So, the ingenius Megan came to the rescue and created a design with a light bulb and heart filament. Isn't it just the cutest thing?! But still so modern and sleek. I love it!

Since paper was a main staple of our tablescape, I will begin with the photos that Megan took of her paper goods and invitation suite.

design and images by Megan of MaeMae Paperie

Just to explain the hearts and menus. We wanted to provide a variety of interactive materials on the tables for guests. So, the menus doubled as origami paper on which you could write sweet messages to the bride and groom and there was a small apothecary jar that had directions next to it about how to fold the menu into a heart so that you could leave it for the couple and they could later place it in their home. Little paper messages of love in the shape of a heart! Plus, we recycled! Done and done. :)

Melody created the yummy cookies, cake pops, mini cupcakes and the wedding cake! Yes! It was difficult to eat such works of art, but after the first bite all feelings of guilt are buried under a sweet ecstasy of tastebud heaven! The cake served as another interactive piece for guests. Every guest table at our wedding was supposed to have a cake in the center (the imaginary bride is a pastry chef, after all!) and during the cake cutting everyone is supposed to cut their cakes together! How fun would that be? A great way to get your guests to get up, mix, mingle and laugh. I am pretty pleased with the idea, I have to admit. ;)

Finally, I properly end this post with some images by the fabulous and famous Jasmine Star! Eeks. This lady is just as sweet and beautiful as you have heard. Seriously. No way is it possible for anyone to be this nice. But really, Jasmine takes the cake! ;) And although we didn't win the popular vote at the party, our tablescape did win a spot on Jasmine Star's blog - so I am more than happy about all the hard work we put into it. Be sure to check it out! Thanks, Jasmine!! Bonus! We were also chosen as an editor's pick for the Utterly Engaged magazine by Lucia. Thanks, Lucia, for one and a half spreads in the issue! here and here.

Aren't the floral arrangements perfection? One of the guidelines for the challenge was to not use florals as a main component of your centerpiece... which is why we have the cake (more on that later) accented with flowers. Gina of the Milli Fiore also created the light-bulb inspired structures made out of different sized vases and floral containers. Those are orange felt flowers floating in the vases. How cool is that? They really added that extra modern touch to the tablescape. And the flowers that she DID provide were totally bringing it, don't you think? They were the most fresh and vibrant shades of orange. I wanted to fill my home with them!

All above images by Jasmine Star

I LOVE Jasmine for getting a shot of the gray shag rug we placed under our table. I thought that it would give our tablescape a nice touch and searched high and low for this sucker! After working with it, I almost feel like every sweetheart/head table should have a little shag rug under it... even if guests can't see it. Because after the party, when we were breaking down our table, it was SOOO nice to just stand on the rug and let my tired feet rest a little. Imagine how good it would feel for a bride a groom on their wedding night. mmm. luxurious shag. New trend? mmmkay. Maybe not. But it does feel good between the toes! ;)